Study to target evidence of dyslexia in early development

THE University of Western Sydney is calling for pint-sized volunteers keen to find a way to diagnose dyslexia.

Study to target evidence of dyslexia in early development

Baby it's you: Ruse's Rebecca McIntosh and her son Declan, 15 months, who is taking part in the dyslexia study at the UWS MARCS BabyLab, with BabyLab co-ordinator Rachel Lee. More babies are needed for the study to continue. Picture: Simon Bennett

THE University of Western Sydney is calling for pint-sized volunteers keen to find a way to diagnose dyslexia.

The UWS MARCS BabyLab has been running a study that aims to discover whether it is possible to detect signs of dyslexia in babies.

BabyLab co-ordinator Rachel Lee said this would mean dyslexia sufferers would not have to go through several years of difficulty at school before they were diagnosed.

Mrs Lee, of Mount Annan, said two groups of babies, one with a family history of dyslexia, and one without, were put through a series of sound tests to see if the babies at risk of dyslexia appear to perceive sound differently.

Babies are involved in the study from when they are about five months old until they turn five.

"We're hoping there's a really obvious difference between the two groups," she said.

"If we can find kids with dyslexia really early we can run early intervention programs."

She said undiagnosed dyslexia could often lead to, or be mistaken for, willful disobedience or bad behaviour because it was so difficult for sufferers to read.

Often children with dyslexia are teased or marginalised, even if they are intelligent people, because they are unable to read.

Ruse mother Rebecca McIntosh entered her son Declan, 15 months, in the study because she thought it was interesting.